I'm back...finally. This has been one messed up trip report.
So far, I've covered through to the end of our Geiser Loop. If I post any inconsistencies with earlier posts, my apologies. I have no intentions of misleading, but at this point we are 4 months after the trip and reaching the limits of my memory abilities. :)
I also have to realize that I'm not going to find the time to do the level of job with this that I'd hoped for.
The next day for us was the waterfall area. We hiked to the edge of both falls, and if my memory is correct, the upper falls hike was fairly strenuous. It was less than a half mile, but steep switchbacks the whole way. Still, it was worth it and exciting to stand right next to such power.
We picnicked in the area and saw some tourists doing dumb things...
The boys also earned their badges while in this area!
We ended every day by hanging out in Hayden Valley to animal watch until complete darkness. I think we would all agree that these evenings were our favorite time in Yellowstone.
We ventured out on some of the trails in Hayden, even after spotting a few Grizzlies in scopes. Who would have thought that walking through a valley could be such a rush.
One evening, we had an incredibly exciting event. This young elk swam across a river in front of us and started herding the geese. He played for a half hour this way.
While I'm looking through the camera, my peripheral catches to white blurs running breakneck out of the woods, through the sage and towards the elk.
The elk turns and runs for his life. The adrenaline that started pumping in us was amazing. We thought we were going to see wolves take down an elk right in front of us! Turns out, they were likely coyote and they started playing cat and mouse with the elk. Anyway, I was on a Yellowstone adventure, so no matter the truth, they were wolves to me. :)
On another night, we happened upon a wolf feeding on a bison calf. One of the ladies there (a pro), had a great spotting scope and she had video of the entire incident. Two adult bison and two calves were being stalked by this wolf. The bison sacrificed one of the calves to the wolf by goring and throwing it until it was dead. The wolf then began feeding. Amazing video.
Anyway, we did leave Yellowstone feeling like we had been National Geographic photographers on an adventure in the wild. Great experience!
On another day, we did the loop to the NW. This was an extremely long day from Fishing Bridge. If we return, we will move camp part way through our visit.
We were at Norris Basin just days after the young man lost his life in one of them. That gave my boys a serious respect, if not a fear of walking the boardwalk.
We also hiked the boardwalks at Mammoth.
We took a beautiful gravel road on the NW side of the park. We took our time and stopped for a picnic with hardly anyone else around. As I think I mentioned earlier, we eat all of our meals from the truck.
We drove up to near the top of Mt. Washburn. The winds were EXTREME! Literally would take you off your feet!
This is a random shot that I wanted to throw in to illustrate what camp life is like in Fishing Bridge. I doubt we would stay there again. Electricity wasn't necessary, so the cons outweighed the benefits for us.
We ended our stay at Yellowstone two nights early. We had a good time, but the excitement of what lies ahead had us too curious! We left out of the Northwest gate without ever going into the Northeast side of the park. Yes, we missed Beartooth... Gives us a reason to return someday.
